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Customer Reviews of Jane Eyre

The BEST version of Jane Eyre ever put to film!
Jane Eyre is without question my all time favourite book. I first read it in high school and I vivdly recall the hairs standing up on the back of my neck the first time Jane heard "Grace Pool"'s insane laughter in the night! This is the most faithful film version I've yet to see. OK, Timothy Dalton is too handsome to play Rochester, but he has the character nailed to a tee - passionate, tortured, sardonic with just the right level of bitterness at the way "fortune has knocked me about". And Zelah Clark is the best Jane I've come across. Quiet, understated, but she's no shrinking violet and does not hesitate to stand up to the brooding, unpredictable and intimidating Edward Fairfax Rochester. And the wonderful dialog comes almost directly from the book. I think the reason this is the best is because it was a mini-series and could accommodate the entire story (for the same reason the Firth/Ehle version of Pride & Prejudice is the best version of that story). A two hour movie cannot do either story justice.

I absolutely abhored the Zefferelli version - who in their right mind would cast William Hurt as Rochester???? And Charlotte Gainsbourg's Jane was a bit pouty and petulant. Plus, some scenes were combined or compressed to fit the time requirements distorting the story. For many of the same reasons, I didn't care for the A&E version, though Samantha Morton was a pretty good Jane. But the usually wonderful Ciaran Hinds (see him in Austen's Persuasion) portayed Edward as so overly bitter (bordering on pathetic) that I couldn't see why anyone would fall in love with him. I don't think that I've ever seen the George C Scott/Trish Van Devere version. And it's been eons since I've seen the Joan Fontaine/Orson Wells version, but if memory serves, the casting was good, but again, the story was compressed for time and the dialog was subpar. There are just some lines of dialog that simply MUST be included for me to enjoy any version of this story and if those lines are not there it's curtains!

If you are a fan of Jane Eyre, you might want to read a book called Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It's a prequel and tells a version of the story of Edward's time in Jamaica and his marriage to his first wife (a rather strange story focusing on voodoo, slave unrest and her mother's mental instability). It's also been made into a movie (circa 1998?) which was okay.

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Just one word: WONDERFUL
I have seen every major movie version of Jane Eyre that has been made, and this one is by far the best. (If you can get a copy of it, I have a copy of it.) At just under four hours long, it is the most accurate of any of the movies to the book. It has everything, from Jane's return to Gateshead to see her ailing aunt to the gypsy scene. Zelah Clarke portrays the best Jane: she is not too beautiful like many of the actresses who have attempted Jane are (i.e. Susannah York and Joan Fontaine). Timothy Dalton makes a wonderful Mr. Rochester: you can see his mind working as he schemes to make Jane love him.
The only thing that bothers me about this version is how good looking Timothy Dalton is. Edward Rochester is supposed to be fairly ugly, and as everyone knows, Timothy Dalton is incredibly handsome. Even so, his marvelous acting ability still makes him the best there is.
Caution to viewers: Since this version is so long, there are many parts of it that are somewhat slow. Those of you who are avid Jane fans like I am will not find this to be a problem; on the contrary, it makes it better. If you are wanting something short and to the point, I suggest one of the others. They are not as accurate, but there are many other good ones.

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Low budget , though accurate adaptation of the book
If you are looking the most accurate adaptation of "Jane Eyre," this is it. It's got everything from the book that the screenwriters could pack into four hours. However, like all of the BBC productions that I've seen, this looks like it was filmed with a video camera. I absolutely love the book, but part of me also loves film and this is so low budget that there's not really much action or even movement during certain scenes. People stand or sit in one spot for long periods of time spouting words -- beautifully exact words, mind you -- but it does get quite visually boring sometimes.

Speaking of visuals: Timothy Dalton is skinnier and taller than Rochester is supposed to be. Zelah Clarke is short, but way too filled out and her character is too perky; she is supposed to be outwardly suppressed, though inwardly intense. And these leads are supposed to be 20 years apart -- Dalton and Clark look to be about the same age. That being said, there is some great chemnistry between them; the passion between Jane and Rochester -- the focal point of the story -- is absolutely palbable in this adaptation.

No other "Jane Eyre" film will give you so much accurate dialogue, straight out of the book and no other adaptation has the Rochester-as-gypsy scene or an accurate portrayal of the River's family and Jane's relationships with them. It's definitely worth adding to your adaptation collection.